Microsoft’s Copilot app puts two major AI tools, GPT-4 and DALL-E 3, into a smartphone format with free access. The app appeared on Android just before Christmas without an official announcement, and an update on Dec 30, 2023 noted that it is now also available for iOS.
What the Copilot app does on a phone
The Copilot app brings Microsoft’s chatbot experience to smartphones. Its basic purpose is simple: users can ask questions, give instructions, and receive generated text or images in response.
The source article describes the app as offering the same functionality as the Bing web app. That means the Copilot chatbot is not limited to ordinary text chat. It can also work with images, which makes the smartphone format more useful because the camera is already part of the device.
Users can upload images or take pictures with the camera, then chat about what appears in the image. That gives the app a practical role beyond writing or brainstorming: it can respond to visual material supplied by the user.
The app also continues one important Bing chatbot behavior. Unlike OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the Bing chatbot provides sources for most answers by default, or at least tries to. For users comparing AI assistants, that sourcing behavior is one of the more visible differences in the experience.
Why the GPT-4 switch matters
The standout detail in the Copilot smartphone app is how directly Microsoft presents GPT-4. The app includes an explicit switch to use GPT-4, putting the model name in front of users rather than hiding it behind a mode label.
That is a shift from earlier Microsoft interfaces. In the desktop version, and previously in Bing Chat, pure GPT-4 usage was associated with “Creative” and “Precise” modes. In “Balanced” mode, Microsoft used a mix of LLMs with GPT-4 and its proprietary language models.
On the smartphone app, turning on the GPT-4 switch automatically moves the chatbot into “Creative” mode. Users can still change modes through a menu setting, choosing “Precise” or “Balanced” if they prefer those options.
The practical reason to care is quality. The source article states that GPT-4 provides the highest text quality. For users who want stronger writing, analysis, or instruction-following from the chatbot, the dedicated GPT-4 switch makes the choice easier to find.
It also suggests that GPT-4 has become a recognizable selling point. Microsoft appears to be treating the model name as something users understand and value, especially when paired with free access on mobile.
Free access changes the comparison
The two biggest advantages of the Copilot app are free use of GPT-4 and the DALL-E 3 image generator. Those are the headline features because they are also the capabilities users may otherwise associate with paid access elsewhere.
The source article notes that direct access to GPT-4 and DALL-E 3 via OpenAI costs 20 US dollars per month. Against that comparison, Copilot’s free smartphone access gives Microsoft a clear point of differentiation.
That does not mean the apps are identical. The OpenAI ChatGPT application also offers a chat history, a voice interface, and more. So the decision is not only about whether GPT-4 and DALL-E 3 are available, but also about the surrounding product experience.
For many users, the most relevant distinction may come down to workflow:
- Copilot app: free access to GPT-4 and DALL-E 3, with source attempts in many answers and smartphone image input.
- OpenAI ChatGPT application: direct access through OpenAI, plus features such as chat history and a voice interface.
- Bing Chat and web access: similar functionality remains available through Bing Chat and at copilot.microsoft.com.
That makes Copilot especially notable for people who want to experiment with GPT-4 or DALL-E 3 on a phone without starting with a monthly subscription.
The limits users should expect
Free access does not mean unlimited use. According to the chatbot, users with a Microsoft login can have up to six messages in 60 chats. Within one chat, the message limit is 30 messages, after which older messages are deleted.
Microsoft’s chatbot describes this as a “technical limitation that will hopefully be resolved soon.” That wording matters because it frames the restriction as something tied to the current system rather than necessarily a permanent product rule.
The app can also be used without a Microsoft login, but text generation is then limited to a few messages. In practice, signing in appears to matter for anyone who wants more than brief use.
These limits shape what the app is best suited for. It can handle quick questions, writing help, image generation, and camera-based prompts, but longer back-and-forth sessions may run into message constraints. The deletion of older messages after the limit is reached also means users should not assume every long exchange will remain intact inside a single chat.
Where Microsoft Copilot fits now
With the Copilot app on smartphones, Microsoft is making its chatbot easier to reach outside the browser. The timing is notable because the Android app appeared just before Christmas without an official announcement, while the Dec 30, 2023 update added that iOS availability had arrived as well.
For users, the main takeaway is straightforward: Microsoft Copilot now offers a mobile route to GPT-4 and DALL-E 3 at no cost, with text chat, image creation, image uploads, camera input, and source attempts in many answers.
The app’s importance is not only that it exists, but that Microsoft is placing GPT-4 directly in the interface. Instead of asking users to infer which model is active from a conversation mode, the app makes GPT-4 a visible option. That changes how ordinary smartphone users encounter advanced AI tools: less as a hidden engine, and more as a named feature they can turn on.